Thorns of Chaos: Tails' Bad Fur Day
by Ryan the Game Master
Summary: Miles Prower was on a roll, until the arm of the Eggman Empire evened the score. A side story to Thorns of Chaos.


**This is a side story to Thorns of Chaos. If you haven't caught up to that story, please do so. If you haven't read Black Petals, read _that_first.**

**All characters within are owned by Service Games (SEGA).**

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Today was a busy day for Tails. With Sonic still recovering in Soleanna, it fell to him to fight the good fight against Eggman's forces. So far, things had gone well. Thanks to his quick thinking, they now had another Chaos Emerald! Now, there was only one left! Yes sir, everything was going according to plan.

Which is why the sudden rumbling happening outside his Mystic Ruins workshop was so startling. "Huh? What the heck is going on out there?" he wondered. Tearing himself away from an innovative blueprint that might turn the tide on a bad situation, Tails snagged his Magic Hand machine and headed outside to find a small army of Egg Pawns and other badniks causing a ruckus. Thankfully, the area was largely unpopulated, so there was no fear of anyone getting hurt. Still, this couldn't continue. Shaking his head in mild annoyance, Tails flew down and fired his Energy Ball, wanting to get this over with.

As the young fox made short work of the robots, a pair of lifeless red eyes carefully analyzed his movements, waiting for the right moment to strike.

A few minutes later, the battle was over, and Tails stood in the middle of a scrap pile. "Well, that was easy. Wonder what that was all about?" Just as he was about to gather up any useful parts, the sleeker, tougher robots of Eggman's armada came out of nowhere and circled him, and they were all prepared to fire! Before they did, Tails took to the skies, but when he attempted to launch a mid-aid counterattack, he was suddenly struck from behind!

Swinging his Energy Cannon around to catch the assailant, he was shocked to find no one in sight. A conundrum, to be sure, but the boy had no time to contemplate it, as he was quickly shot at again by the robots below him. Zooming downward to regather his lost Rings and attack his opponents, he bobbed and darted through the mechanical monstrosities, firing left and right and damaging what robots he could. Tails then hovered high above to line up another shot, when once again, he was attacked from his blind spot, losing the remainder of his Rings and knocking him into the robotic rumble below.

Thinking quickly, he dropped a load of Dummy Rings, which created an even bigger scrap pile to break his fall. The boy genius rolled to the ground somewhat winded and in a bit of pain, but otherwise in one piece. "*sigh* Man, that was crazy…" Tails thought aloud as he glanced at the broken robots beside him. "Glad it's over, but, what the heck attacked me." Turning his gaze upward, he got his answer, scrambling to Spin Dash out of the way as a blue blur slammed the spot where he previously lay.

"What the-!" Tails exclaimed in shock. His assailant revealed himself…Metal Sonic! And the robotic doppelganger of Tails' hero wasted no time, staying on the attack by rushing the boy. Tails activated his ShieldBot, but to his horror, Metal tore right through it with his V. Maximum Overdrive and smacked Tails into the side of the hill with a bounce. Tails tried to get his balance, but Metal Sonic offered no quarter, grabbing the kit's left tail and dragging him across the field, jumping and slamming him into the mountain of broken bots. He then swung Tails down like a hammer again, and again, and again, spun a 360° circle, using the fox to clear the immediate vicinity of metal and causing said fox a great deal of damage before bringing him back down into the ground.

Tails was in a lot of pain now. He saw stars all around him and it felt like everything hurt, but he still attempted to fight back. He activated the Magic Hand, but Metal Sonic parried the machine, immediately destroying it. As Tails gaped in disbelief, a voice boomed from Metal's external speakers. "Having some trouble, are we, Mr. Prower?" Tails' blackening eyes widened in recognition. "…Dr. Eggman!" The doctor laughed through his creation, "The one and only, my boy! I do hope you didn't think I would stand for your little stunts in Sonic's absence." Tails growled through his pain, "Glad I…got your…attention." Eggman scoffed, "You certainly did. Now, it's my turn. You need to learn that your little juvenile attempts to outsmart me mean nothing. Your past flukes mean nothing. You're intelligent, I'll give you that. But I have years of experience, child, and that will always put me 100 steps ahead of you."

Taking a page from his big brother's book, Tails replied, "Big words…coming…from an old man…who's too much of a wuss…to face me himself." Seemingly in response, Metal Sonic held the fox up by the base of his tails. "Oh, we'll face each other soon enough. But first, you need to learn your place. The creation that has defeated you is, arguably, for better or worse, my **greatest** work. A testament to what a **true** genius can accomplish. If you had any ounce of ambition, of drive, then maybe - just maybe – you could stand toe-to-toe with the mighty Eggman. As it stands now, you are a worthless upstart, blinded by the ignorance of youth. Today, you will learn the error of such foolishness, even if it costs you your life. Metal Sonic…play hide and seek with the boy."

With that, the cold-programmed robot swung Tails again, and chucked him far into the jungle. The last thing the cub saw before blacking out was the Knuckles Clan ruins.

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_Ugh, this chapter sat on the backburner for soooooo long. Eventually, I just had to sit down and write this damn thing. I don't like it, but I had to get this out of the way so I could move on with the story.  
_

_I hope you like this more than I do. Thorns of Chaos will continue soon._


End file.
